Planning and Building Control TodayTimber is fast becoming one of the most popular materials to build high-rise buildings, favored by builders, designers and architects alike. Mass timber projects are becoming increasingly popular within the construction industry. With the number of newly developed timber buildings on the rise, experts predict they are about to take center stage. Designers, architects and engineers alike are now becoming aware of the potential for mass timber buildings and, as a result, more and more projects are opting for wood.READ MORE

FPSThe Introduction to Wood Science and Forest Products Course is presented by the Forest Products Society (FPS) in conjunction with Mississippi State University (MSU) in Starkville, Mississippi, Tuesday through Thursday, Sept. 11-13. This comprehensive, three-day course was created specifically for people who want to learn more about wood or wood processing.

Suppliers, consultants, claims agents and anyone seeking to understand trees, their harvesting and how wood is processed into today's products would benefit. Current issues in the forest products industry, such as green building and product testing, are also covered. Attendees will earn 17 CEUs upon completion of the course.

Instructors include several recognized forest products educators. Course participants will develop skills through hands-on exercises and sessions in the state-of-the-art Forest Products and Wood Science Learning Center at MSU. In addition, attendees will gain experiential understanding of wood processing during a tour of the Southeastern Timber Products Lumber Company and Sawmill in Ackerman, Mississippi.

Register now to receive early-bird registration savings before Monday, Aug. 13. Special group rates are available to FPS organization member companies.

The Chemical EngineerA substance in trees that is usually discarded by paper manufacturers has been used to create adhesives which perform as well as commercially available products. Pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) are used in objects such as labels, packaging, sticky notes, and plastic wraps. They are typically made from polymers derived from petrochemicals, but a team of researchers has developed a method of using lignin, a major component in trees and plants, to create a greener alternative.READ MORE

Woodworking NetworkDo trees actually talk to each other? And if so, how do they do it?
Just over 20 years ago, ecologist Suzanne Simard discovered that trees do communicate with each other, and it's through a fungal network scientists have nicknamed the "Wood Wide Web."READ MORE

MainebizA team of University of Maine researchers has been awarded $1.17 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop and test land management practices to protect Maine forest workers from exposure to tick-borne diseases. The three-year project, "Developing adaptive forest management practices to mitigate impacts of climate change on human health," is being led by Allison Gardner, an assistant professor of arthropod vector biology, and Carly Sponarski, an assistant professor of human dimensions of wildlife and fisheries conservation.READ MORE

Dovetail Partners, Inc.In recent decades there have been significant efforts to develop responsible sourcing and greater transparency within supply chains, including work within the forest sector. An objective has been to increase accountability in the marketplace and reduce the occurrence of illegal sourcing, unsustainable production, child labor, pollution, deforestation and other negative practices.READ MORE

New AtlasCellulose and chitin are the world's first- and second-most common biopolymers, found in plants and crustacean shells (among other places) respectively. Georgia Tech scientists have now devised a method of combining the two, to produce plastic-like compostable food wrap.READ MORE

Softwood Lumber BoardFramework, the 12-story tall wood building planned for Portland's Pearl District, has announced that the project has been placed on hold for the foreseeable future. Initiated in 2014 with support from the Softwood Lumber Board, Framework is a pioneering mixed-use project that pushed the boundaries of resilient and sustainable innovation in the U.S. construction market. According to Framework officials, the postponement is a result of changing market conditions over the past two years including inflation, escalating construction costs, and fluctuations in the tax credit market. All have impacted the project's bottom line.READ MORE